Here’s a summary of upcoming opportunities to improve your neighborhood and have some fun at the same time:

Comment on 100th Avenue improvements

Comments are open through Friday, August 5. The City of Kirkland is planning a host of improvements to 100th Avenue, running south from Simonds Road along the eastern boundary of Finn Hill down to 132nd (the intersection with Juanita Elementary). You can learn more about the plans and provide your comments online through Friday, August 5. Click here for the online survey.

Volunteer for O.O. Denny Park work party

Volunteer event on Saturday, August 6, from 9am to noon. The Green Kirkland Partnership is holding another event to remove invasive plants (ivy, blackberries, etc.) from the park. Meet in the gravel parking lot on the east side of Holmes Point Drive, opposite from the park’s main lawn. More info is on the Green Kirkland Partnership website. You can also contact FHNA member Ken Goodwin (board@finnhillalliance.org), who is organizing the event.

Weigh in on the Finn Hill neighborhood plan this month

The City is drafting Finn Hill’s neighborhood plan, based on comments received from Finn Hill residents over the course of the last 10 months. You can get a sense of how the draft is shaping by looking at City staff memos to Kirkland’s Planning Commission (scroll to July 28 meeting materials) and Transportation Commission (scroll to July 27 meeting materials); these memos include a proposed Vision Statement for Finn Hill and related land use and transportation proposals.

FHNA will be working with the City staff over the next month to complete the draft plan, which will be the subject of a Finn Hill open house in the fall. We would love to hear what you think of the draft so far. Send us an email via our website (or just write to board@finnhillalliance.org.) Also, if you want to get a sense of how the plan is evolving, you can attend Planning Commission meetings on August 11 and August 25, at which the plan will be discussed.

Help us host Expedia volunteers for a Juanita Woodlands work party

The event will be on September 9. For the past few years, our neighborhood has been very fortunate to have Expedia’s volunteers come out for a day to help clean up our woodlands. They will be back in force on Friday, September 9, and we need a handful of Finn Hill residents to coordinate work groups and handle some basic logistics. Can you help? Contact FHNA board member Jeanette Leach (board@finnhillalliance.org) for details.

Mark your calendar for DennyFest

This year it is on Saturday, September 17. This one’s easy. Just show up and we’ll feed you and entertain you for free. Geoffrey Castle will be back with his electric fiddle and band. We have some new musicians, too. And to add a touch of class, we’re planning to set up a wine and cheese tent.

If you want to be a part of the fun, we are looking for entrants in the dog show and contestants for the pie and chili contests. Event volunteers are needed, too. Contact Marc Ackerman (board@finnhillalliance.org), our DennyFest impresario, for details.

That covers it for now, everyone. Enjoy the sunshine – get out to our parks and woodlands (and help keep them healthy). And please stay engaged with plans for our neighborhood.